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Survival is not enough. The Lord Jesus Christ wants you to thrive… to flourish…
The past ten years in Sumas I’ve told hundreds of people I’m proud they are survivors. The situations people make it through are astounding, sometime their own bad decisions, sometimes situations thrust upon them out of their control. I don’t know how I would make it through some of the living hell people are given… The Lord Jesus Christ wants us to thrive… I first climbed Mt. Baker when I was 12. I wanted to say I did it. On one of the early climbs I put on sunscreen unevenly so I would have burn marks on my face so people would ask…. 2-3 trips a Summer. 4-5 years later I can still picture the aha moment when I realized what a privilege it was to be in such an amazing place. I found JOY in climbing Mt. Baker.
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True or false? “Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life…” ___ The full quotation by Henri Nowen: “Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the ‘Beloved.’ Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.”
The most important way to think of ourselves is that I am loved by God. God is crazy about you. He thinks you are awesome. A common way of thinking: “If people really knew me, they wouldn’t like me.” There are a 100 variations: nobody cares… God uses other Christians in ways that are more important than me… I’m boring… I’m selfish… I’m inferior… /we mask our true feelings by acting self-confident, or withdraw and hope nobody notices…
I used to enjoy listening to the stories of Herschel Wiley, long time elder/teacher here. I can hear him describing winter time back in Missouri, probably in 1930’s before they moved to Whatcom County as a teenager, cars had narrow tires, and not a lot of them in those days. In winter ruts would be formed in the snow forming a single file trek into town. Once you got settle in the ruts you barely even needed to steer… all well and good, until you met another car…
We get stuck in ruts… some of the patterns aren’t even that great, the way we treat others, they things we put up with… go through the motions with very little steering even needed, but then crisis comes and you’re rattled…
Why do we fight change? Change is the one constant of life. That’s why the wedding vows account for the unknown ~ for better for worse. People come and go. Jobs change. Loss. Gain. The children grow. The older you get the faster time marches. Today we finish story/testimony of Joseph. Genesis 50, a transition chapter. The family of Jacob, Joseph’s father, is entrenched in Egypt. I included a timeline in the hand-out today which shows the major events of Joseph’s life and how old he was [placed at very end of these notes].
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Carl Crouse, Pastor
At SACC we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Every Sunday the worship service includes a message from the Bible. My words are an attempt to understand and apply the Bible to our daily living. I post weekly sermons and other biblical messages on this page. May you find meaning and hope as you read through each message and seek to hear God's voice. Leave a comment to ask questions or inspire others with your insights. Categories
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